Nearby Theaters

Opened in 1932, and renovated in 1937, the Tryon Theatre shows first run films and on the second and fourth Monday and Tuesday of each month shows art speciality films (documentaries, foreign, etc.). For complete information visit the website.

This is a funky movie theater that is a great asset for a tiny little mountain town. The auditorium is completely plain with no decoration at all beyond the water stains on the plaster ceiling and walls. The exterior has a nice deco look that helps give this charming community a vibrant feeling. Movies still play daily with great art house programming mixed with mainstream Hollywood fare. The auditorium has a balcony whose only entrance is outside right by the ticket window. This is the only theater I’ve encountered that still allows cigarette smoking in the balcony. Even though it’s 2006 this is North Carolina.

From the caption of a small, blurry photo in the November 9, 1940, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: “A view of the Tryon in Tryon, NC., a mountain resort. When the old Tryon burned, C.W. Nessmith and Associates determined to erect a new house that would bring to this remote resort a theatre citizens would boast of. They succeeded beyond their expectations, apparently, for patronage is excellent.”

There’s no indication of when the earlier Tryon burned, or if it was in a different location, but the theater in the blurry photo is definitely the same building in the 1981 photo linked in Chuck’s comment above. Boxoffice contains no earlier mentions of the Tryon Theatre that I can find.